Under the Skins

Bulgaria: Fire Dance Ritual

January 2020 •German

Every year in June, the small Bulgarian village of Balgari celebrates St Constantine with a special ritual. Initiated ‘nestinari’ go into a music-induced trance and dance on bonfires in a display of religious passion.

Bulgarian Lamentation Songs

January 1968 •Slovak

A documentary about lamentation songs of Bulgarian funeral rites.

Kukeri

April 2012 •Bulgarian

This film documents the Kukeri rituals in Bulgaria, focusing on the mask makers and performers who keep this ancient tradition alive. Their dedication to this agrarian custom is a visual testament to the power of tradition to provide hope and community in a time of diaspora and urbanization.

Kukeri

July 2020 •English

The Balkans is home to an ancient pagan tradition where magic and mystery still have a sacred place in the cosmic order. The Kukeri festival has had a strong hold over Bulgarian cultural life since the fifth century, surviving the Ottomans, Christendom and communist rule. Every winter, hundreds of terrifying figures prowl snow-capped forests and village centers in search of evil spirits to dispel from their communities.

Bulgaria, This Eternal Heresy

January 2013 •Bulgarian

Part fictional documentary, part musical anthropology, scientific magic, and eco-anarchic utopian journey in a landscape of eight parts. You're Kaloyan, the sax player. Or Diana, the Gypsy dancer. You journey together through Bulgaria in search of the utopian village Dolphinovo. It's not Sofia, Paris or New York. That's why this story is rural, rustic and polyphonic. It's like a string of painted walls of village houses, folk songs and allegories. However, who is Ivo? And why does he lead you through these winter landscapes a year later?

Bulgarian Lovers

April 2003 •Spanish

Graying Spaniard Daniel has a healthy budget for indulging in the finer things in life. Daniel's favorite luxury is playing sponsor to younger men amid the lights and sights of Madrid's gay club scene. After Daniel shares a night with handsome Bulgarian emigre Kyril, he finds himself consumed with an insatiable lust for the charismatic foreigner. But, as their relationship takes shape, Daniel's latest conquest reveals his own manipulative tendencies.

Honor in the Valley of Tears

May 2010 •English

The story of A-Company 1/8 4th Infantry Division, US Army during the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1967. In the men's own words, through the stories they narrate, the film gives us insight into the time these men spent together and the bond they formed that remains unbroken to this day. The 4th Infantry Division is one of the only divisions that trained and retained its troops during the Vietnam War. The men of A-Company trained together for eleven months and served together for one year. Their story begins with basic training at Ft. Lewis Washington in 1965 and continues 40 years later at their last reunion in September 2007. Filming began September 27, 2007 in Houston, Texas during a reunion to honor First Sergeant David H. McNerney, who is the only living member of the 4th Infantry Division to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was celebrated by the men he trained and served with and who's lives he saved on March 22, 1967.

Once Upon a Time in Hungarian Comics

September 2021 •Hungarian

"Once Upon a Time in Hungarian Comics" provides a comprehensive picture of Hungarian comic culture, touching on the history of comics from the beginning to the present day, focusing on the development of Hungarian comics.

Report from Hollywood

January 1985 •English

“It may be worse than Portugal,” observes cinematographer Henri Alekan about a Los Angeles film lab while on the set of Wim Wenders’ The State of Things (1984). A legendary production and a transitional work for the New German Cinema director as his work became increasingly international, Wenders set out to make a film about filmmaking as funding stalled on the American production of Hammett. The State of Things deals with American and European sensibilities about cinema, and he enlisted Lachman to film and document the film being made in Los Angeles. Made for German television, completed in 1985 and unseen outside of Germany, Lachman’s portrait of Wenders at work features striking filmmaking and location photography of Los Angeles in the 1980s, and serves as a candid glimpse into European encounters with American culture at the time.

Sans Soleil

January 1983 •French

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.

Daybreak Express

January 1953 •English

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

West Side Stories

November 1971 •English

Two impressions of New York - a city of dreams or nightmares. The Outsider: Jonathan Miller 'If you enter New York in the first place in a show business context every time you return you have to justify your existence in show business terms. If you haven't got something to sell you become almost transparent...' The Insider: Patti Smith, poet, singer, actress. 'People come to New York to see the stars, but there ain't no stars in the sky. I lived in the city and I haven't seen a constellation since.'

Le ventre de Paris

June 2023 •French

How to Win the Ashes

June 2023 •English

A deep dive into one of the fiercest rivalries in sport. Unearthing stories from the most unforgettable series, a look at what it takes to lift the most famous cricket trophy, the Ashes urn. Through in-depth interviews with cricket legends including Ben Stokes, Jimmy Anderson and Glenn McGrath, this documentary relives the on-field heroics and lifts the lid on the behind-the-scenes turmoil, revealing a darker side to the pursuit of success.

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him

April 2005 •German

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitler’s, a leader of the notorious SA and the Third Reich’s minister in charge of Slovakia, including its Final Solution? Executed as a war criminal in 1947, Hanns Ludin left behind a grieving widow and six young children, the youngest of whom became a filmmaker. It's a fascinating, maddening, sometimes even humorous look at what the director calls "a typical German story." (Film Forum)

The Bridge

October 2006 •English

The Bridge is a controversial documentary that shows people jumping to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - the world's most popular suicide destination. Interviews with the victims' loved ones describe their lives and mental health.

March of the Penguins

January 2005 •French

Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!

Niall Horan: Live With The Rte Concert Orchestra

December 2018 •Abkhaz

Show of solo singer Niall Horan from his latest album: Flicker. Recorded at Studio 1 in Dublin, this intimate and sensitive performance shows a side of Niall barely seen and explored, all with the participation of the incredible orchestra.

Hitler's Religion

January 1995 •German

Explores the influence of propaganda on religion during Hitler's reign as well as his representation as the new Messiah.

Why Hitler Lost WWII

Invalid date •English

Explores the fascinating reasons behing Hitler's demise and delves into several explanations for the failed 1,000-year Reich.